City Council to crack down on alcohol permits

By Jerry W. Kram

The Parshall City Council decided that it is time to crack down on granting off-premises alcohol sales permits to the city’s bars.

The issue came up when a request came in to approve a permit for an event that had occurred three weeks before. The Saddlerack bar provided service for the Wild Turkey Foundation banquet that happened on August 22, a Saturday. City Auditor Kelly Woessner said that she didn’t receive a request for an off-premises permit until that morning, and then the request came from the event organizer, not the bar.

In the past, the city has approved the permits after the fact, although the bars are supposed to apply for the free permits before the event. Violation of the rules could be punished by closing the bar for one or more days. No one on the council thought the Saddlerack should be punished for this event, but Mayor Kyle Christianson said the city needed to tighten up on the rules.